1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for outputting direction information relating to a route planned by means of a navigation system, and to a vehicle navigation system which includes an arithmetic circuit
for calculating a route PA1 for determining the position of the vehicle by means of at least one sensor signal, PA1 the arithmetic circuit is arranged to supply first direction information for a first direction indication to the output device, PA1 the output device is arranged to display the first direction indication which indicates the direct direction from the relevant instantaneous vehicle position to a remote point which is situated a forward distance therefrom along the route.
and also includes an output device for outputting the direction information supplied by the arithmetic circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
Such a method for outputting direction information and such a navigation system are known, for example from EP 534 533 A1. According to the known method, the direction information is displayed in the form of abstracted representations of intersections. The display of the abstracted intersection representations is particularly suitable for fully digitized areas, i.e. for areas in which each individual road is stored in the map memory of the navigation system. This is notably the case for large cities. In many cases, however, small towns and rural areas are available only in partly digitized form in the map memory of the navigation system, which means that not every road in such an area is stored in the memory of the navigation system. At intersections or road junctions which are not stored in the memory of the navigation system, therefore, the driver of a vehicle equipped with such a navigation system may be confronted with uncertainties or ambiguities in respect of the route to be followed.
In the Philips navigation system CARIN, for example, in addition to the abstracted intersection representation there can, therefore, be displayed a map of the surrounding area which is intended notably for orientation in partly digitized areas. A high-resolution display screen is required so as to enable adequate display of such a map of the surrounding area.